Apparatus for digital printing on closures for containers

Abstract

An apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, includes a loading container with a hopper containing the closing components from which a conveyor line originates, with the closing components being positioned on the conveyor line by means of a withdrawing device provided with a bowl. A digital printing station situated along the conveyor line includes a digital printing device with ink-jet nozzles provided to reproduce images and/or text on each metal closing component with the help of a position sensor provided to detect the position of the closing components on the conveyor line. The digital printing device is controlled by a command and control unit, to which the position sensor is connected. A user interface device allows the user to interact with the command and control unit to select and/or modify an image to be printed, on the basis of which control instructions are sent to the digital printing device so that the selected and/or modified image to be printed is reproduced on the closing components.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, comprising:
 a loading container configured for containing a plurality of closing components for said containers;   a conveyor line for said closing components;   a withdrawing device for withdrawing said closing components from said loading container, aimed at taking said closing components from said loading container and placing said closing components along said conveyor line;   a digital printing station, arranged along said conveyor line and comprising a digital printing device configured for executing a graphic and/or text reproduction on each of said closing components;   at least one position sensor, arranged upstream of the digital printing station, configured for detecting a position of at least one of the closing components passing along said conveyor line;   a command and control unit, to which said position sensor is connected to provide information about the position of the closing components situated on said conveyor line and acting on said digital printing device to activate said digital printing device at a predetermined times, which depends on said detected position;   a user interface device, configured to allow the user to interact with said command and control unit to select and/or modify an image to be printed, according to which said command and control unit sends control instructions to said digital printing device to reproduce the selected and/or modified image on said closing components;   wherein said digital printing device comprises a series of ink-jet nozzles arranged along said conveyor line and operating in four-color process in succession to reproduce said selected and/or modified image on said closing components;   wherein at least one additional ink-jet nozzle aimed at covering said closing components with a first layer of background color is positioned at an inlet section of said digital printing station preceding said series of ink-jet nozzles operating in four-color process;   at least one UV device configured for only partially drying said background color applied to said closing components, situated downstream of said additional ink-jet nozzle aimed at covering said closing components with a background color and upstream of at least certain ones of said series of ink-jet nozzles operating in four-color process.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 1 , wherein said loading container comprises a hopper located above said conveyor line. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 2 , wherein said withdrawing device comprises a vibrating device situated between said hopper and said conveyor line and configured for releasing said closing components one after another. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 2 , wherein said withdrawing device for said closing components comprises a bowl device situated between said hopper and said conveyor line and including a peripheral outlet aperture from which said closing components are made to exit one by one. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 1 , wherein said conveyor line of comprises one or more conveyor segments at least some of which are at least partially magnetic. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 1 , wherein said digital printing station includes an inlet section in which a lateral abutment element is situated, configured for aligning said closing components according to an ordered row at the inlet of said digital printing station. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 1 , and further comprising at least one second additional ink-jet nozzle configured for covering said closing components with a second layer of background color is positioned at said inlet section of said digital printing station preceding said series of ink-jet nozzles operating in four-color process. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 1 , and further comprising, following said digital printing station, a drying station using UV light for fixing said printing graphics on said closing components. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 1 , and further comprising a quality check station situated downstream of said digital printing station and configured for checking a quality of the printed images made on said closing components. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus for digital printing on closing components for containers, according to  claim 1 , wherein said closing components are crown caps and said containers are bottles.